Book finally sold after being on the shelf for nearly 30 years

A book about William the Conqueror was fast becoming the most ignored book in the UK- until it was finally purchased 27 years after it was first placed on the book shop shelf.

Broadhursts of Southport is an independent bookshop situated in Merseyside, NW England, where each book is individually selected based on its own merit. The Pitkin children’s biography of William the Conqueror was stocked in the 1990s by 84-year-old Marie, who now works part time, and they never lost faith the book would sell.

I have just sold a book that we have had in stock since May 1991. We always knew its day would come.

“We always had faith it would sell, as we do with all our books. We choose every book we stock individually, rather than having random batches of stock sent to us. Often books unsold within nine to 12 months are returned to the publisher, but some we keep for longer, either because they (or the subject) are personal favourites of ours, or because there are not many other titles on the subject available. We know that one day, someone will want that exact title, however long the wait.”

According to Ball, the almost-forgotten title “was bought by a gentlemen looking for books on the Norman conquest for his grandson. We think that a local school is covering the subject.”

The tweet went quickly viral and book lovers around the world rejoiced as the lonely book was adopted at last. The outpouring of positivity and support was heartwarming for Joanne Ball and her colleagues:

“It isn’t often you see book-related stories going viral, which has been a great surprise – lots of book-lovers out there wanting to support it, too. We have had some great reactions from our local and regular customers, but the fact that people in the US and Australia now know about us, and have been talking about us, is just unbelievable.”

The Mr. Men books, illustrated and written by Roger Hargreaves have been a hit with children since 1971 when they were first published and the collection was later increased to include female characters in 1981 with an accompanying series, Little Miss. Now, the Little Miss collection is about to be joined by a new character, Little Miss Inventor.Read More

Paddington is one of those bears who has stood the test of time, and has even outlived his creator Michael Bond who sadly passed away in 2019. Today we hear the news that StudioCanal will be working with Nickelodeon and award winning producer David Heyman in a global deal for a brand new Paddington Bear inspired television series for pre-schoolers.

Actor Ben Whishaw who voiced the bear in Paddington the Movie and its sequel will reprise his role for the new CGI-animated series. The series will follow the adventures of a young Paddington Bear and will air worldwide on Nickelodeon in 2020.

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has been a successful venture since it started in 1995, and recently hit its 100 millionth donation! Thanks to people joining in and supporting the charity, Dolly’s team have been able to reach further afield- starting with Ireland.

The programme aims to give as many children as possible a free book and help start them on their literary journey, or encourage one already flourishing. It was launched in Ireland at the South Dublin County Council Library in Tallaght on Thursday. New books will now be available for all children aged up to five living in Dublin 24, for free!

UK pop star, Will Young, will kick off LGBT Month with a story about a child raised by two fathers.

The story is named ‘Two Dads’ and was written by Carolyn Robertson and illustrated by Sophie Humphreys. It offers a sweet and affirming tale of a family of two dads and their adopted child, written from the perspective of the happy and well-loved child.

Young, a vocal supporter of LGBT inclusiveness, told reporters:

“Children’s books are one of the first ways we learn about the world around us so I’m overjoyed to be reading a story to mark LGBT History Month. More so than ever, families in all forms should be recognised and celebrated – whether that’s two dads, two mums, families with a mum and a dad, those with a single parent, adoptive families and so on. I’ve never been more sure that inclusivity starts from the youngest possible age. I hope these stories will be used for years to come.”

If you haven’t visited the Warner Bros Studio Tour, London then it’s well worth a visit and it’s about to become even more appealing with the addition of Gringotts Wizarding Bank at the studios.

Previous visitors to the Studios will know that the frontage to the bank has always been on the studios version of Diagon Alley but now for the first time ever, visitors will be able to enter the set of Gringotts Wizarding Bank as the studio reveals its biggest expansion to date.

The board of a Kansas public library is being forced to consider a request that books featuring transgender characters be moved out of the children’s section of the library.

Local resident Marci Laffen made the written request to the library asking that the books George, Lily and Dunkin and I am Jazz be moved to either the adult of young adult section of the library citing “sexual content” in her request. In addition, Laffen suggested books with themes of bullying, rebelling against police and refusing to take medications are the reasons the books do not have a place in the child’s section of the Andover Public Library in Kansas.